Christian, Islam, And Judaism

Christianity, Judaism, and Islam

Every religion has its own goal, and their own path and believe to reach their goals, however there are also many similarities in believes. Although the followers of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam may see things differently, they all fundamentally hold the same values and codes. To Islam, the Prophet Mohammad’s teaching is a complete and final revelation. On the other hand, according to the bible, Christianity believes that Jesus Christ is the true lord and savior will grant you the access to heaven in the afterlife. Judaism is founded by Abraham, and it is the base from which both of the other two religions sprung. Even though the three religions differ in many areas and on many aspects, they also agree on the monotheistic, the belief in ‘One True God.’ Those religions have many similarities and a number of significant differences about God, role of women, prayer, and salvation.

The conception of God in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam is monotheism, the belief in the existence of a single indivisible God. The three of religions maintains that there is only one God, who is active in and concerned about the world. These religions are also patriarchal, male-dominated, which has resulted in God being described as “He.” However, how Christians, Judaism and Islam conceptualize God in their respective theologies is actually quite different. In Christianity, God is the supreme creator and ruler of the universe. Christians believe God is infinite, omnipotent, all-powerful, perfect, personal, eternal, unchanging, holy, all-knowing, and all-loving. Their idea of God is shown in the belief of the Trinity. God is one, but with three aspects: God is Father, the creator, ruler, and sustainer of all life, and divine judge; God is the Son, who is Jesus, God made incarnate and savior of humanity; and the Holy Spirit, who is God working in the world. Both Muslims and Christians love and respect Jesus, however, the major difference between Islam and Christianity is the Christians insistence on the supposed divinity of Christ. In Christian scriptures, God never claimed divinity while the emphasis in the Islamic theology of God is “absolute unity;” God is sublimely one. Muslims think that by believing in the Trinity, Christians believe in three Gods. For them, God is One God. Judaism views the existence of God as a necessary prerequisite for the existence of the universe, and the existence of the universe is sufficient proof of the existence of God.

Like Islam, Judaism also believes that there is only one God, no other being participated in the work of creation. With them, God is the only being to whom they should offer praise, no other is their God, and they should not pray to any other. They believe that everything in the universe was created by God and only God.

Prayer is to speak to God, to put ourselves in touch with God, remind us of His greatness, goodness. Christianity, Judaism, and Islam thought that through praying they are allowed to come into the presence if the Creator and Sustainer of the university, however, there are the differences in the purposes of prayer. Prayer is an important theme in Christianity. Prayer is the one way that Christians can commune with God on a daily basis. It is absolutely necessary that the Christian spend time in earnest prayer. To Christians, prayer is a meaningful act; they realize the full blessings that are available through prayer. They believe that God does hear and answer their prayers. They think that prayer can helps them to overcome temptation, to realize those things with they need and desire, to help others to get well, to be forgiven, and to overcome sin, etc. For Judaism, the word “pray” means “divine” and emphasizes the One to whom prayer is director. With Jewish, prayer is an integral part of everyday life. One of the purposes of prayer is to increase their awareness of God in their life, and the role that God plays in their life. The most important part of any Jewish prayer is the introspection it provides, the moment that they spend looking inside ourselves, seeing their role in the universe and their relationship to God. For Islam, the main purpose of prayer is to lead one to do good, to refrain from evil and to behave better towards others.

In Christianity and Islam, it is people’s sin that places them in danger of punishment after death. Sin and salvation are central categories in Christian theology and spirituality. Christianity teaches that the effects of original sin have corrupted the world and the human beings who exist in it. They believe that all human beigns are born into the world with a sinful nature because of the transgression of Adam. Being saved, in Christianity, individuals are thought of as being saved from eternal punishment through Jesus’ death on the cross. Although Islam and Judaism acknowledges that man does commit acts of sin, there is not a sense of man being totally depraved or unworthy as is found in Christian theology. In Islam, there is no such a thing as original sin. According to Islamic belief, Adam’s and Eve’s sins were fully forgiving so that their sin had no repercussions for the rest of human race. Because of their thoughts, they see that there is no need for salvation. Judaism also holds no concept of original sin. Judaism’s emphasis is in not on original sin but original virtue and righteousness. According to Judaism and Islamic beliefs, atonement is also necessary. Atonement is accomplished by sacrifices, penitence, personal righteousness, good deeds and little of God’s grace.

The three religions agree on one basic fact; both women and men are created by God, the Creator of the whole universe. However, the image of Eve as temptress in the Bible has resulted in an extremely negative impact on women in those three traditions. All women were believed to have inherited from their mother, Eve, both her guilt and her guile. Consequently, there were all untrustworthy, morally inferior, and wicked. Menstruation, pregnancy and childbearing were considered the punishment for the eternal guilt. With Christians, there was always a prejudice against women and they were considered inferior to men owing to certain aspects such as physical strength and nature. With them, the reason why the man dominates in society is his superior intelligence. Only the man is a full human being; the male is higher, the female lower, that the male rules the female is ruled. In Islam, women’s economic reliance on men, they believe that men should always be in charge over women. In Islamic tradition, the women’s primary role is a wife, and mother. In traditional Judaism, women are for the most part seen as separate but equal. Women’s obligations and responsibilities are different from men’s, but no less important. In Judaism, God has never been viewed as exclusively male of masculine. Judaism has always maintained that God has both masculine and feminine qualities. With them, both man and woman were created in the image of God. According to traditional Judaism, women are endowed with a greater degree of intuition, understanding, and intelligence than men. Women have held positions of respect in Judaism since biblical times. However, through various time, we can see the various descriptions about women. Women are also described as lazy, jealous, vain and witchcraft. Men are repeatedly advised against associating with women. Women are discouraged from pursuing higher education or religious pursuits. In traditional Judaism, like in Islamic tradition, the primary role of a woman is as wife, mother, and keeper of the household. For Judaism, the woman’s role is as important as the man’s.

Although, there are a lot of similarities in believe between Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, there are still a lot of significant differences. Through the differences and similarities between the conceptions about God, prayer, salvation and role of women in Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, we understand more about the way they live their lives. With me, every religion have their own good points and goals, even though their path and their beliefs are different. As long as any religion which teaches us to follow the good, and avoid the evil, then no religion is bad.